Zoonotic & Vector-Borne Diseases

Island Pharmaceuticals has secured all regulatory and ethics approvals to deploy its investigational antiviral Galidesivir under the WHO's MEURI framework during the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Uganda, creating an opportunity to generate prospective human efficacy and safety data while addressing an urgent unmet medical need.

A look back at Q2 2026's most significant infectious disease developments, including landmark FDA approvals, a historic hantavirus outbreak, and an update on a mRNA influenza vaccine.

An investigational dual vaccine against Lassa fever and rabies demonstrates promise against priority target plaguing West Africa.

After nearly 60 years of successful eradication in the United States, the New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) has reemerged in North America, prompting renewed surveillance and containment efforts due to its ability to infest and destroy living tissue in animals and humans.

An increase in Plasmodium vivax malaria in New York City follows trends in migration from regions where it is endemic.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa has seen the number of cases and deaths rise, and reporting shows some Americans have been exposed to the virus and will likely need quarantining.

Federal agencies have airlifted 17 American citizens from the MV Hondius to Nebraska for evaluation and care following exposure to the Andes variant of hantavirus. One passenger currently has mild symptoms and another passenger tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus.

A study assessing the local transmission found it caused 14 confirmed cases in 2024 and exposed diagnostic delays in patients without travel history.

A large cluster-randomized trial in Singapore found that releasing sterile male Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes greatly reduced dengue infections by suppressing local mosquito populations.

A phase 3 trial of an investigational Lyme disease vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and Valneva SE demonstrated more than 70% efficacy, signaling potential progress toward the first approved human vaccine for the disease. Pfizer is planning to move forward with regulatory submissions for potential approval.

A phase 3 clinical trial found the Butantan-DV tetravalent dengue vaccine provided 80.5% protection against severe dengue with warning signs over 5 years and prevented hospitalizations among vaccinated participants.

A 6-year study in Liberia shows that Lassa fever is frequently missed in febrile patients, leading to preventable deaths and underscoring the urgent need for earlier diagnosis and improved testing.

Valneva has voluntarily withdrawn its US regulatory applications for its chikungunya vaccine, IXCHIQ, after the FDA suspended the license and placed the program on clinical hold pending investigation of a newly reported serious adverse event.

Sharon Carrasco DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANP-C, CEN, FAEN, FAAN, FNAP, talks about safely responding to deadly pathogens such as Ebola and Lassa fever, and where the US is in terms of thinking about preparedness on a national level.

Jill Morgan, RN, BSN, reviews this significant part of clinical care and how personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential to protecting healthcare workers.

In the second installment of this 2-part article on the WHO 2025 World Malaria Report, the authors point out the positive trends in the scaling up of prevention efforts with new-generation anti-mosquito netting, vaccines and periodic chemoprevention.

The WHO 2025 World Malaria Report adds several countries to those certified as malaria free, while recognizing spread of antimalarial drug resistance.

Gavin Harris, MD, discusses his experience working in outbreak environments where there is high-consequence infectious disease (HCID) and how it is important to establish buy-in from the local populations and some of the important elements of what you need to leave behind when an outbreak is declared over.

Emory's Gavin Harris, MD, talks about taking care of patients with high-consequence infectious diseases, and considerations for not only their care, but their families. He also discusses working with other healthcare facilities around COVID-19 care and educating them through Emory's ECHO program on new and existing threats.

Andrew Handel, MD, talks about transmission, differential diagnosis, treatment, and protection against it.

NYU Langone’s Angelica Cifuentes Kottkamp, MD, continues our Media Day discussion around these illnesses and how in New York City, clinicians need to be prepared to decipher in differential diagnosis for these potential diseases.

A healthy New Jersey man died from the allergy after eating red meat. Results from a blood sample collected post mortem found that he had been sensitized to the α-gal sugar, which is found in mammals. The blood sample results indicated the man had an extreme reaction, in line with what is seen in fatal anaphylaxis.

Despite a 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics clinical update that recommends use of postexposure prophylaxis for prevention of the tick-borne disease in children younger than 8 years, Wesley Kufel, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP, FCCP, FIDSA, points out many clinicians are unaware of this. He also discusses its efficacy at preventing the disease in this patient population.

Episode 2, Part 4, Robert Bransfield, MD, connects neural circuits, inflammatory responses to infection, and impulsivity in violent behavior.

Bordetella bronchiseptica is a rare human respiratory pathogen that can be initially confused for Bordetella pertussis, leading to potentially inadequate treatment. This article reviews the organism and recent literature on the successful treatment of B bronchiseptica.